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Sunday, August 07, 2005

Let it rain a whole lot more, cause I got them deep river blues...

I can't write too much since I should be making couscous right now, but I couldn't ignore that pointed request for updates from my other blogging half, particularly since I've been meaning to post a little something for several days now. R and I are going to a Volunteer Appreciation Potluck this evening, co-sponsored by my museum and the city visitor's bureau, and I decided a dish of the shape-note-convention-variety would be in order: tasty without involving more than four ingredients, and able to be mass-produced with only a minimal effort on the part of the cook. Couscous with salad dressing chopped veggies it is.

In other news, R and I took the bus out the road, the term used to refer to anywhere north of downtown Juneau up to the end of the road -- which is, literally, the end of the road; bearing in mind there's only about 40 miles of highway through Juneau, it's a pretty accessible commute -- and encompasses such marvels as the Mendenhall Glacier, Costco, and the Alaskan Brewing Co. Which, as per R's strict orders, we had to stop at and take a tour of on our way back into town from our errands. Our "tour" consisted of a 15-minute explanation of the brewing process as recounted by a shaggy-bearded, jovial man named Tony, and then as much time as we wanted to wander around the gift shop and get our glasses refilled with whatever we wanted to try. You literally can't walk in the door without someone good-naturedly checking your ID and shoving a glass of beer in your hand. So. Much. Free. Beer. I made R drink most of mine, but appreciated the sentiment.

Last weekend we climbed Mt. Roberts (some of us faster than others... I won't say which one had to sit down every half-hour and wait fifteen minutes for the other one to catch up), which is a gorgeous climb. It didn't even start raining on us until we'd gotten about a mile above the tram terminal (1,500 feet above Juneau), at which point we walked into the clouds and were drenched by freezing, sideways, blustery rain. I tried to suck it up and climb on, but finally, like the good sport I am, I started crying and yelled ahead to Richard at the top of my lungs "This isn't fun at ALL!!!!" at which point he calmly informed me that he had no desire to climb any further and just thought I wanted to go on because I was so stubbornly plugging on. Heh. So we went back down and the sun even condescended to shine on us for a couple of hours and my pants dried off a little and we went to our favorite Chinese-Japanese-restaurant-run-by-Koreans for dinner.

It's been eerily beautiful out all day, my one day off this weekend before a full week of kid's camp starting tomorrow at the museum. We had an explosion of phone calls from eager parents in the 11th hour (apparently that's the "Juneau way"... in a similar manner to "making a Wesleyan entrance") and enrollment jumped from about 9 kids a day to about 17. Between 8 and 11 years old. Be afraid.

What else of note has happened lately? I saw marmots for the first time, we were fed tasty halibut cheeks by the curator of my museum and her husband, we went to see a great bluegrass band from Anchorage, we watched "March of the Penguins" (so cute!!!), and we're toying with the idea of staying till December. Just toying, mind you. We'll see.

9 comments:

Whoa. OK. First of all, what's this about "toying" with staying until December? Oh, wait, I don't care at all because I'll be in Ecuador. Uh, I'm outraged on Dan's behalf.

Second of all, I definitely laughed heartily out loud several times while reading your post. You know that same exact scenario would have played out had I climbed a mountain with Richard instead of you. And I had forgotten about the "Wesleyan entrance." By which I mean repressed along with all the other horrors of Singers under Neely.

Wow wow! You walked in clouds? And it was unpleasant? How cool! They always look so nice and fluffy and inviting from airplanes. R and J and I will be going to Lookout Mountain, but we'll be driving up it, as civilized people do. Protection from the elements, prevention of sore legs and heart attacks, that sort of thing. Note to J: there's free beer in the refrigerator. No ID necessary. Don't move to Alaska.

On the other hand, Katie, I approve of your inclination to stay in AK a bit longer. It shows a very sensible reluctance on your part to move to TX. If you're not going to hurry home to western Mass, after all, then I say half of one, six dozen of the other (Ok, I'm quoting someone, I admit it).

Awwww, I was looking forward to you coming back in October, visiting Andrea and Briana and me in Somerville, and laughing at Andrea and me as we groan about school work and wonder why on earth we ever thought we should pursue education past college. But if you must stay until December, so be it. I like the thought of you enjoying Alaska more than trying to beat the heat down south. Still, you must come visit us in Boston or we'll try to see each other in the Valley at Christmastime if that's the earliest you'll be back.I hope you're having a great time! I wish I were climbing mountains and eating your couscous instead of packing boxes and getting all stressed out with this move (this weekend already!). Next time you run away to a far and distant land, take me with you!Love,Alison

Katie, I also laughed heartily at your post. Reminded me of the time when Rebecca was in 5th or 6th grade and doing a school project about the Illinois River explorers Joliet and Marquette which was, I think, to write a journal as if you were along on the voyage. I had the bright idea to rent canoes and go paddling down the Illinois River, take a knapsack lunch, take photos, etc and actually EXPERIENCE the river as the explorers did. (Remember, Rebecca? Are you groaning yet?) Boy did we! Drove down to the launch place (about an hour), left our car in the lot, boarded a bus which took us a couple hours (by canoe, that is) upriver, where we did in fact get into canoes and set out on the placid waters. About 2 minutes later it started raining. And kept raining. Everything got soaked, including our lunches - in spite of the plastic sheeting that Dad brought along (boy scout that he is, you know). Rebecca was whining and I SO WANTED TO AGREE WITH HER that it was a miserable experience. But how could I? It was MY IDEA! Bummer. When we finished, we headed straight for home, where we immediately lit a fire in our fireplace (this was Memorial Day weekend, mind you) and made hot chocolate. It's experiences like that that make me proclaim proudly "I AM NOT A PIONEER!!"Mom